Hear’Say was a British pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name.

Formation

Over the course of six weeks in early 2001, thousands of hopeful singers attended open television auditions for ITV's Popstars talent show. The contestants were judged by Nigel Lythgoe, Paul Adam (director of A&R at Polydor Records, who had rights to the finished group), and Nicki Chapman, who had previously worked with the Spice Girls. The judges reduced the contestants to a final group of ten, before visiting each of them at their homes to reveal whether or not they had been selected for the band.

The five chosen singers - Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan - formed Hear’Say. The five unsuccessful finalists went on to form the band Liberty (later renamed Liberty X after a legal dispute).

Initial success

Hear’Say’s first single, "Pure and Simple", a cover of a Girl Thing track that was released only in Japan, went straight to #1 in the UK singles chart on March 24th 2001. It became the fastest selling non-charity single in the UK (a record that was beaten a year later by Pop Idol winner Will Young), and went on to sell over 1 million copies. The single was followed by an equally successful debut album entitled Popstars. The album featured cover versions of "Monday Monday" by The Mamas & the Papas and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel, alongside original tracks purchased for the group. The album also reached #1, 3 weeks after the single, making Hear’Say the only British band to have had a debut single and album at #1 simultaneously.

After another #1 single - a remix of album track "The Way to Your Love" - Hear’Say went on to appear in the successful ITV show Hear’Say It’s Saturday. This followed on from a mini-series named Meet the Popstars which was intended to allow the public to get to know the band and their music away from the talent show format.

Decline and break-up

During 2001 the group toured, to middling reviews, and released a live DVD of one of their shows. While on tour, the group were also recording a second, follow-up album, entitled Everybody. In November 2001, just a few months after their debut, Everybody was released, preceded by a single of the same name. Despite heavy promotion, the single debuted only at number 4. The album fared even worse, creeping in at number 24 and going on to sell just one fifth as many copies as Popstars (though it was later uncovered that, had it been released just one week later, it would have entered the charts at #1).

Despite this relative lack of success, plans were made for an arena tour in 2002. At the time, group member Kym Marsh was prominent in the headlines because of her relationship with former EastEnders star Jack Ryder. Ryder was younger than Marsh, and she already had children from a former relationships. This caused controversy in some parts of the media, and speculation mounted that she was unhappy in the group.

In February 2002, Marsh announced that she was leaving the band. Auditions were held for her replacement, to be aired on television, mirroring the procedure through which the original members of Hear’Say were chosen. One of the band’s former dancers and member of short-lived band BOOM!, Johnny Shentall (husband of Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee) won these auditions, but further negative publicity followed when it was claimed that the result had been rigged. These claims were weakened as it came to light that many other people who had previously worked with the band had also auditioned, most not even making it past the first round.

With a new line-up, Hear’Say began recording a third album, cancelling the planned 2002 arena tour to give Shentall time to adjust to the group. During the summer of 2002, the group toured the UK radio roadshows circuit, where they were constantly booed and abused by members of the public – evidence of the degree of public animosity that had built up. During the tour, the group’s vehicle was threatened by an apparently armed man on the M1 motorway in Northamptonshire. The man, later arrested, claimed to have been be playing a prank on the group.

In August 2002, Hear’Say released their only single with Shentall, entitled Lovin’ Is Easy. The track had a new sophisticated feel in an attempt to regenerate interest in the band’s music. The single charted at number 6, but the group were disheartened and took some time out to re-evaluate their careers. Hear’Say officially split up on 1st October 2002, citing negative public reaction as the main reason.

Unreleased 3rd Album

Lovin' Is Easy
Slow It Down
If You Wanna Roll
If I Go Astray
On A Round
You Got It
This Is Me
Moment To Soon
On The Floor
Fool (Missing My Lovin')
Show Stopper
Run Run Baby
Time For Love

These tracks were officaly registered by Universal Music at ASCAP [1], and were most likely to be possible tracks for the third album

Brand New Day
I Didn't Want You Anyway
Everybody
The Way I'm Feeling Tonight
Way To Your Love

After Hear’Say

Following Hear’Say’s breakup, Myleene Klass went on to record a classical album for Polydor Records’ classical division, before becoming a presenter on CD:UK. Klass also presented the Sunday breakfast show on Classic FM in 2006. In the same year she also revealed herself to be an amateur astronomer, deploring publicly the proposed closure of the London Planetarium and explaining on television how to view Venus in the early morning. At around the same time, Klass revealed herself in other ways too, with a rather raunchy photo-shoot for the “lads’” magazine, Maxim. In September 2006 Myleene co-presented The All Star Talent Show on Five. Myleene appeared on the 2006 series of ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here!, where she came 2nd place, and co-hosts LivingTV's Ghost Towns with Derek Acorah. She has also been confirmed as host for BBC's 2007 show The People's Quiz as well as "being in talks for a prime-time series, involving new talent", believed to be a new Saturday night talent show provisionally titled Saturday Night Talent Show.

Kym Marsh, opting for an adult contemporary sound, released two successful singles and an album, on a smaller record label, before she was dropped due to low sales. She later went on to become a guest presenter of Loose Women, and entered Making Your Mind Up 2006, the UK show devised to pick a singer and song for the Eurovision Song Contest, but did not win. She appeared in Hollyoaks: In the City before her character was killed and she is now appearing in UK soap Coronation Street as barmaid and mother Michelle Connor.

Suzanne Shaw is a tabloid staple, thanks to her high profile relationship with Darren Day, whom she met whilst starring in the popular 2003 touring stage adaptation of Summer Holiday. The pair now have a son, Corey Mackenzie Day, although they are no longer in a relationship. Suzanne has appeared in various TV shows, including dramas such as The Courtroom.

Johnny Shentall starred in MTV’s Totally Scott-Lee alongside his wife, and has also made a smaller name for himself starring in musicals such as Starlight Express.

Noel Sullivan starred in West End musical Love Shack with former Steps star Faye Tozer and former S Club 7 singer Jon Lee, before moving on in 2006 to What a Feeling, which visited all parts of Britain and received country-wide accolades. Noel recently appeared in Five's reality show Trust Me - I'm A Holiday Rep.

Danny Foster has kept a relatively low profile since the band split, although he has appeared in the Channel 4 show The Games, replacing actor Jonathon Morris. He to has also recently appeared in another of Five's reality shows named Trust Me - I'm A Beauty Therapist.

Trivia

The reason for the apostrophe in the group's name was for a while open to conjecture. Some commentators said it was a deliberate attempt to appeal to a youthful audience by imitating an informal, uneducated style, while others suggested it was simply a case of bad grammar on the part of its creator. In her bestselling book on punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the author Lynne Truss states that "the naming of Hear’Say in 2001 was [...] a significant milestone on the road to punctuation anarchy." In fact, the explanation for its inclusion is that a Canadian band had already been using the name "Hearsay" since 1992.
The track "Angel in My Heart" was used on Christian pop group Jump 5's second album.

Discography

Albums

Popstars (UK #1, 27 Weeks on Top 100, March 2001)

File:Hearsay Popstars.jpg

“Pure and Simple” (Tim Hawes, P. Kirley & Alison Clarkson) - 3.48
“The Way To Your Love” (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Hallgeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermasen) - 3.15
“One Step Closer” (Ray Hedges, Norman Butler, Danny Foster & Kym Marsh) - 3.33
“Another Lover” (Yoyo Olugbo & Henry Binns) - 3.47
“One” (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Hallgeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermasen) - 2.46
“Not the Kind” ( Yoyo Olugbo & Henry Binns) - 3.58
“Make It Happen” (Ray Hedges, Norman Butler, Mylene Klass, Noel Sullivan & Suzanne Shaw) - 3.43
“Breathe” (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Hallgeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermasen) - 3.37
“Carried Away” (Ray Hedges, M. Brannigan & Tracy Ackerman) - 3.40
“Sweet Alibi” (Ray Hedges, Norman Butler & Tracy Ackerman) - 3.18
“I Didn’t Want You Anyway” (A. Romdhane, J. Larossi & R. Mitra) - 3.00
“Colourblind” (S. Lee, Wayne Wilkins & A. Mackintosh) - 3.41
“Love Will Never End” (Halligeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermansen) - 3.30
“Monday, Monday” (John Phillips) - 2.21
“Bridge over Troubled Water” (Paul Simon) - 4.49

Everybody (UK #24, 5 Weeks on Top 100, December 2001)

File:Hearsay Everybody.jpg

“Everybody” (Martin Harrington, Ash Howes, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher & A. Caine) - 3.54
“Suddenly” (Cathy Dennis & O. Paul) - 4.03
“We Go On” (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Hallgeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermasen) - 2.50
“Back Down to Zero” (Liz Winstanley & S. Robson) - 3.24
“Play to Win” (Mikkel S. Eriksen, Hallgeir Rustan & Tor Erik Hermasen) - 3.45
“Angel in My Heart” (Eliot Kennedy, Woodcock & Hear'Say) - 3.46
“You're All I Need to Get By” (Ashford & Simpson) - 2.52
“Not the End of the World” (Eliot Kennedy, T. Lever, M. Percy, Woodcock & Cawley) - 3.39
“Don’t Go Believing” (Ray Hedges, Nigel Butler & Hear'Say) - 3.15
“Home Again” (Cathy Dennis & Simon Ellis) - 3.45
“A Good Thing” (Ray Hedges, Nigel Butler & Hear'Say) - 3.26
“Straight from the Heart” (Tim Hawes, P. Kirley & Tracy Ackerman) - 3.59
“Pure and Simple” (New Version) (Tim Hawes, P. Kirley & Alison Clarkson) - 3.50

Singles

“Pure and Simple” (UK #1, 25 Weeks on Top 75, March 2001)
“The Way to Your Love” (UK #1, 17 Weeks on Top 75, July 2001)
“Everybody” (UK #4, 11 Weeks on Top 75, December 2001)
“Lovin' Is Easy” (UK #6, 7 Weeks on Top 75, August 2002)

B-Sides

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” (“Pure and Simple” B-Side)
“Can’t Stop Thinkin’ About It” (“Pure and Simple”)
“Look Inside Yourself” (“The Way to Your Love”)
“Boogie Wonderland” (“The Way to Your Love”)
“Brand New Day” (“The Way to Your Love”)
“I Knew You Were Waiting” (“Everybody”)
“The Way I’m Feeling Tonight” (“Everybody”)
“Once in a Lifetime” (“Everybody”)
“Pure and Simple 2002 Mix” (“Lovin’ Is Easy”)

External Links

Hear'Say
Hear'Say
	File:Hearsay Promo.jpg Cover of Hear’Say’s first album, Popstars. ; (l-r): Myleene Klass, Danny Foster, Kym Marsh, Noel Sullivan, Suzanne Shaw.
Background information
Years active	2001 - 2002
Members	Danny Foster,; Myleene Klass,; Suzanne Shaw,; Noel Sullivan,; Kym Marsh (2001-Feb 02),; Johnny Shentall (Feb 02-Oct 02)

[2] A Cool Music site